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Saudi announces third A(H1N1) case as pandemic declared

Agence France Presse | 06/12/2009 5:36 PM

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Saudi Arabia said on Thursday a toddler has tested positive for swine flu, the third such reported case in the kingdom, hours after the World Health Organization declared a pandemic.

The three-and-a-half-year-old boy, along with his family, arrived in Saudi from the United States last Sunday, the official SPA news agency cited Saudi Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabia as saying.

The toddler was checked into a Riyadh hospital on Wednesday when he began showing symptoms of the A(H1N1) virus. Medical tests showed he had been infected with the virus, Rabia said.

"The boy is currently undergoing medical procedures that are taken in such cases," he said.

A Saudi student diagnosed with swine flu was on Wednesday discharged from a hospital after treatment while a Filipina nurse returning to Saudi from a holiday had also tested positive for the flu last week.

The WHO on Thursday declared a pandemic after latest figures from the organization showed the number of reported A(H1N1) infections has reached 27,737 in 74 countries, including 141 deaths.